KEVIN Kyle will see a French specialist later this month in a final attempt to solve his long-standing hip problem but, after missing almost all of Sunderland's promotion campaign, the striker has admitted he might never play football again.

While the rest of Wearside celebrated the Black Cats' Championship win on Monday night, Kyle was left to reflect on the most traumatic ten months of his life.

The Scotland international injured his hip in pre-season training last July and, while he featured in the first seven games of the season, the severity of the problem soon required surgery.

That proved ineffective and, since going under the surgeon's knife, a plethora of painkilling injections has failed to prevent Kyle feeling sharp pain whenever his hip is subjected to any sudden movement.

The striker has made a number of aborted comeback attempts in the reserves but, almost a year after the initial injury occurred, he is effectively back to square one.

He will travel to France for yet another examination in the next three weeks but, if that fails to provide a solution, there may be only one course of action available.

At the age of just 23, and with his best days still ahead of him, Kyle could be forced to hang up his boots.

"I am really worried about the future and that I might not make it back due to this injury," revealed a brutally honest and clearly concerned Kyle.

"I've never really talked about it that way before but, since the last time I saw my specialist, he said 'If we can't get this fixed, you may have to think about packing football in'.

"That sits in the back of my mind every day and that is a worrying prospect. But there are lots of people in the world with sore hips and I'd like to think we would be able to get the problem solved.

"I might have to quit football. I don't like to think negatively, but it is there at the back of my mind. I will certainly be doing everything humanly possible to get back on the pitch with Sunderland."

The complexity of Kyle's problem has confounded Sunderland's medical staff as well as some of the most experienced hip specialists in the world.

The striker's injury seems to date back to a childhood accident that has left his hip bone misshapen and thus more susceptible to damage.

"It's just the way my bones have grown since I was a kid," explained Kyle, who dismissed speculation that his problem might date back to his days as a baggage handler in Stranraer.

"The specialist said that when I was younger I must have fallen and, as I have got older, it has just knocked the bone out of place.

"As a kid, you play football on the streets and I used to play every single day. At the time, I wouldn't have thought anything of it because I would have just got up and carried on playing, which I did every day.

"But, as I've got older, the bones have not grown the way they were supposed to."

Given the extreme frustration he has endured this season, Kyle will not need any extra incentive to battle his way back to fitness this summer.

But, if he was struggling for motivation, the prospect of lining up against Premiership defences next season should spur his recovery effects even further.

The muscular frontman made 17 appearances as Sunderland tumbled out of the top-flight two seasons ago and, as one of the few surviving members from the relegation season, he is especially determined to prove a point.

"I'm really hoping I can get stuck into Premiership centre-halves next season," said Kyle. "But, on the other hand, just to get stuck into any centre-half anywhere would be great right now.

"I'll be using the summer to get this problem corrected and then I plan to report back for pre-season training to get back to full fitness and return as a Premiership player."

With Sunderland suffering the worst season in their history, it is no surprise that most of Kyle's Premiership memories relate to defeats or disappointments.

The Black Cats won just two of the 17 top-flight games in which he was involved, but that did not stop him from impressing against a player who was recently voted by his fellow professionals as the best in the country.

Sunderland might have lost 2-1 to Chelsea in April 2003 but, in one of the best performances of his career, Kyle terrorised a certain John Terry.

Days like that underline why he is so determined to return next season, and also highlight how crucial he could be to Sunderland's pursuit of Premiership survival.

"I'll be aiming to give John Terry the run-around again," he said. "It's always great to pit your wits against players of his calibre - he's an exceptional talent.

"I know that Jose Mourinho reckons that the best centre-halves in the world play in the Premiership, but I am sure he knows as much as me that John Terry takes some beating.

"I played against him when we played Chelsea and that was one of the best games I've ever had in a Sunderland jersey. Hopefully I can repeat that as well."

Meanwhile, Gary Breen has revealed that his knee injury could rule him out of the Republic of Ireland's forthcoming World Cup games against Israel and the Faroe Islands.

The Black Cats skipper hurt his knee when stretching in the Stoke penalty area during Sunday's 1-0 win at the Stadium of Light and faces a race against time to recover for next month's qualifiers.

"I am not sure what exactly is wrong with the knee and I have never had a problem with it before," said Breen.

"I will be having the problem assessed by our medical staff this week and I will be devastated if I have to miss out, especially with Richard Dunne out injured."